


Case Study of a Ghost

by GoodFoolofIllyria



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Post-Side Story: Garden of Light, but only by a couple of months at most
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-17 14:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18967366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodFoolofIllyria/pseuds/GoodFoolofIllyria
Summary: When a group of college students decided to film a documentary about the Library Ghost, an urban legend that's been speading on the internet, they never expected there to be any reality to their story, even if it's not what they expected. Their original plans seem to fall apart as they get dragged deeper and deeper into the story of a man who seemed to be just as much a ghost alive as dead.





	Case Study of a Ghost

 

                Noah was melting in the heat as he checked his phone for maybe the hundredth time. He checked the group chat again. Just to make sure the time was right. But somehow, despite urging the group to meet up at 12:00 pm, not 10:00 am, because it was too early, and he was the only morning person in their group of friends, the rest of the group had insisted that no, 10:00 am was the perfect time to meet up in front of the New York Public Library in the middle of a heat wave. Karen had assured him she would be completely punctual. Julie had told him to loosen up. Ralph had not responded at all. And so Noah stood there. He could go inside. But he would rather be able to be insufferably annoying to the rest of the group when they showed up and whine about how difficult it was to wait.

                After several more minutes of waiting, he saw a tall figure headed towards him carrying several cases of heavy equipment. Upon noticing Noah, he waved.

“Hey, it’s me, Ralph, Julie’s friend.” He said as he walked up to Noah, putting down the camera equipment. He extended his hand. Noah shook it.

“Damn man, you must be a senior. Do you go to NYU too?”

“Well, I mean, I’m not a senior, or,” Ralph stumbled over his words, “Or, I just graduated, but not from NYU, but that’s where I’m going…” Noah stared at him blankly, until realization hit him like a slap in the face.

“Are you saying… you’re going into your freshmen year? You’re a freshmen.”

“Yeah.” Noah cursed his height. How could giants like this exist in a world where he had to remain short?

Just as Noah was descending into the darkest hell of his inner shortness angst, Julie ran up to the two of them, greeting Ralph and Noah with friendly, but extraordinarily painful smacks to the back.

“I see you’ve met Ralph, cameraman supreme, friendly youth who shall be our future.”

“Julie, you’re one year older than me.” Ralph’s exasperation was resigned in a way that Noah knew all too well came from being friends with Julie, who’s affectionate, annoying attitude knew no bounds.

“Yes, and that is one more year in the future than in mine. The statement stands.” Julie continued to tease Ralph. There was only one member of the group left. Who, despite being the only one really into the whole ghost idea, was also the one most likely to be late it seemed.

And as if summoned by Noah’s thoughts, she appeared at the bottom of the steps. In the gaggle of t-shirts and jeans the rest of the group wore, she alone stood dressed anywhere near formal. Her very appearance betrayed the seriousness she felt towards the subject of investigation. Noticing Noah staring, Julie and Ralph turned to the young woman standing at the bottom of the steps. Karen smiled up at them.

“Sorry I’m late guys, I decided to do some more research last night and forgot to set my alarm.” As she approached the group, Julie laughed.

“Karen, I’ve personally seen you sleep through a lecture, an alarm wouldn’t have helped.”

And so the group was united. Everyone was here; Karen, research specialist, Ralph, cameraman, Julie, editor extraordinaire, and Noah, self-appointed leader.

Ralph took a shaky breath.

“Are you guys sure this is a good idea?” Karen smiled in the way Noah knew she only did when investigating this kind of situation. A smile full of fire.

“Investigating a ghost story at the New York Public Library? Revealing the truth of seven years of mystery? Getting to the bottom of the countless sightings of the ghost of a young man they say haunts the general research division? Absolutely.” Noah nodded.

“And, I mean, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do summer break.”

_Transcript One:_

_Camera is shaking around as someone appears to be trying to pull it away._

_Noah: Julie, I told you, I was going to investigate the people._

_Julie: Noah, I swear to god, you can’t start a documentary without an introduction. So, Ralph, **give me the camera**._

_There is a sharp jerk of movement._

_Ralph: Julie, I’ll film it, calm down._

_Karen: We are losing precious ghost time!_

_Ralph: Ok, ok, ok._

_The camera is settled. It is focused on the front of the New York Public Library. In the middle of it stands Noah, whose microphone seems to be malfunctioning every few seconds, judging by the harsh electrical crackling every time his voice gets loud at all._

_Noah: Hi. I’m Noah, and this is the Ghoul Busters._

_An offscreen voice responds_

_Karen: We never agreed to that!_

_Noah: And we are looking to answer questions we’ve all asked. No, not normal questions, like where’s my car keys, or did I lose my wallet, oh god I lost my wallet. No, more important questions. Like, what’s up with the rumors about a ghost haunting the New York Public Library? That can’t possibly be safe, can it? Well, not to worry dear viewer, we will get to the bottom of this tale._

_Offscreen voice_

_Ralph: And, cut._

_Julie: Nice take, now can you do it less stupid?_  
  
Noah: Oh, ha ha. Thanks a lot Julie.

_Julie: No problem._

_Karen: It’s fine, lets please just go get some ghosts._

                Headed into the library, Noah decided that whoever had invented air conditioning should be considered a god on Earth. Karen, despite having been the last one who had shown up, was travelling at a brisk pace that made her excitement very clear. She almost never let her emotions slip too easily onto her face, except when she was talking about ghosts, or, as he had learned in a card game in the rec room at Founders Hall, the residency hall Karen and Noah had both lived in freshmen year, when she was competitive. But in those moments, the otherwise serious, slightly tired girl that Noah was friends with would get a look on her face of excited concentration that was amazing to see.

                Julie gently punched Noah in the shoulder.

                “Noah, you’re doing the staring at Karen thing again.”

                “What! I am not, I’m just looking, um, forward?” Julie snorted in response. Ralph scratched the back of his head.

                “Does this happen a lot?” Ralph asked. Julie rolled her eyes.

                “Pretty much. Dunno why he’s in love with her. Karen’s pretty much one of my best friends, so I love her, but I have trouble imagining her being someone’s type. And I really can’t imagine anyone not dead being her type.” Noah’s face felt his face heat up.

                “I’m not in love with her, I just respect her as a friend who does research for our ghost hunting group, ok?” He said, before adding, “And also, she has lots of good qualities that I’m sure someone, not me, this is hypothetical, but that cause someone to fall in love with her.” In response Julie smirked towards Ralph. Before Noah could offer any defense, Karen started to vigorously wave for the groups attention.

_Our first victim_. She mouthed.

_Transcript two:_

_The camera seems to be turned on midsentence. Noah is talking to a woman carrying books._

_Noah: -librarian here?_

_Woman: Yes, is there a book you’re looking for? Also, why is this on camera?_

_Noah: There isn’t a book I’m looking for-_

_Woman: Is this a pick-up line prank?_

_Muffled laughter off camera_

_Noah: No, no. No. No, I was going to say, I am looking for information on ghost sightings. We’re making a documentary._

_The woman pauses. More muffled laughter off screen._

_Woman: Do you mean… like locally? You need a book on ghost sightings in the area?_

_Noah: No, no, I mean, the rumors about a ghost here. In the library. The Library Ghost._

_Woman: Hmm. I can’t say I’ve heard much about a ghost in the library. Where did you hear this?_

_A group of teenagers, high school age it seems, approach Noah and the Librarian_

_Teenager #1: Are you talking about the Library Ghost?_

_Teenager #2: It’s all online._

_Teenager #3: Yeah, the ghost of a handsome young man who wanders the stacks at night. I heard he disappears at dawn._

_Teenager #4: Yeah! Yeah! And I heard he died here._

_The librarian shifts weight. Her arm goes to her shoulder._

_Woman: Well, I’m not sure about a ghost, but it sounds like someone’s been spreading rumors about an incident they very well shouldn’t be spreading rumors about. It’s disrespectful to the dead._

_The teenagers notice the camera._

_Teenager #2: Are we going to be on TV?_  
  
Teenager #3: Sweet!

_The camera shuts off._

                With the lack of a camera, the teenagers seemed to lose interest, and meandered away. Karen briskly walked up to the librarian.

                “So this man is real then?”

                The librarian bit her lip, and seemed to mull over her thoughts for a second before answering, “Listen, we’re not supposed to talk about it much. It sets a bad image for the library. And besides, I wasn’t there that day. But yeah, about seven years ago, there was a death at the library.” The librarian began to speak quieter. “But, if you want, I can take you to someone who knows more.”  
  
                It was as if a dark cloud had fallen over the group. They had officially crossed over from silly ghost stories into meddling into someone’s life. Noah hadn’t thought for a minute that some dumb internet story had any truth in it. He thought they would just come and film some shots of spooky corners, make up some BS story based off of some probably BS interviews, then call it a day. Today was supposed to be fun. It wasn’t supposed to be real. This was no longer a game. But there was something about this situation that they couldn’t let go of. The group of them nodded. The librarian gestured for them to follow. She led them over to another librarian, a woman with light brown hair, who was currently helping a patron find a book.

                “Hey, Susan.” Hearing her name, the other librarian turned around.

                “Hey Mary, do you need something?” Seeing the horde of teenagers behind Mary, Susan got a confused look on her face. “Do you need help finding a book?” Mary shook her head.

                “Susan, I know it’s tough for you to talk about, but would you mind…?”  
                “…oh.” Susan seemed to know immediately what Mary was talking about. “I… what is this for? The case has been closed for years, and besides, you kids certainly aren’t the police.” There was a moment of silence, then Ralph spoke.

                “I’m sorry for bothering you ma’am, we can leave if you want, we’re just filming a documentary, or a ghost hunting film, or… We didn’t realize that…” Susan gave a sad smile.

                “That someone actually died?” The air was tense. The air around Susan seemed to hang with some sort of buried sadness. “I… they never identified his body… I won’t go on camera, but I will tell you what I know. It’s my fault what happened. The least I can do is try and help people now what happened so that whoever’s out there missing him knows what happened.” She turned, and led them to a workroom

                The group of them sat there, coffee in hand that Susan had kindly given them before pouring a cup for herself. She paced a bit, then finally sat down. She took a shaky breath, which seemed some sort of last ditch attempt to compose herself, before she began to speak.

                “So, you kids said something about a ghost investigation?” Noah coughed and looked to his friends for help. Ralph gave a sympathetic smile while Julie just shrugged. Karen, meanwhile, had pulled out her laptop and was writing at a furious pace. It was on him to respond then.

                “Um, yes, there’s been rumors on the internet about ghost sightings in this library, for about seven years now.”

                “People will make up all sorts of ridiculous notions about tragic events.” Karen seemed to bristle at the idea of ghosts being ridiculous, but thankfully, she said nothing, and Susan continued. “Especially when there’s very little information.”

“What do you mean?” Noah asked.

“Well, when his body got taken into the morgue, there was quite a bit of fuss; there was no record of his existence in the system. Which isn’t a big deal, they were going off of finger prints, and it made sense that there wasn’t a missing person’s report hadn’t been filed yet if he had just died today. But the strange thing is, the police officers seemed to recognize him. And not only that, but when they took him to the morgue, a piece of evidence was missing. A letter.” Karen looked up from her computer screen when Susan said this.

“How could you possibly know that a piece of evidence was missing?” Susan got that sad, faraway look on her face again.

“Because I had seen him before we realized that he had passed.” The room was still.

“You-“

“That’s right. He was this boy, looked to be in his late teens. Blond hair. I thought he was asleep. He was resting his head on this papers, it was a letter I think. And normally, I would have woken him up. But it was late in my shift, and another patron was trying to get my attention. And his face. He looked so peaceful. I thought, whatever dream he’s having, I shouldn’t wake him up from it. Do you understand? If I had just paid more attention, if I had just tried, he may not have died. Whoever this boy was, in the eyes of the law, he didn’t exist. And he was forgotten. And he didn’t seem to mind. What happens to a person that lets them die alone in a library, to be forgotten, and do so at peace?” Susan had begun to cry. Before anyone could move, Karen was out of her seat. She put an arm round the woman.

“I’m so sorry.” The woman dried her tears, and gave a soft smile.

“No, no, I’m fine. It’s just hard to think about.” She looked towards the rest of the group. “I hope you find out whoever this boy is. I really do. And, if you could let me now about those letters… clearly there was at least one person who cared for this boy. I’d like to be able to apologize to them.” The rest of the group got up, and thanked Susan for the coffee and the help she had been, and left the library work room.

“I think I need to get out of this library for a little bit.” Julie said.

Ralph nodded, “yeah, I really think that’s a good idea.” Hearing this, Karen seemed to perk up.

“I know a good place for lunch if you guys want, my roommates recommended it to me. It’s out in Chinatown, and it’s a bit off the beaten path, but really good from what I’ve heard.” Noah liked the sound of that. He too was eager to leave this library that, up until today, had seemed like just another landmark with just another silly ghost story.

Some time later, and they were somewhere in the middle of Chinatown. When Karen had said ‘off the beaten path’, she had been serious. Ralph leaned over to Julie.

“I think we might get mugged.” Despite Julie’s usual confidence, all she could do at the moment was give a quiet shush. Noah wasn’t exactly feeling the area either. He was pretty sure he had seen several movies set in areas like this, and none of them ended well for the protagonists. Karen, on the other hand, seemed without a care in the world. Noah went over to her.

“Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she lowered her voice, “My friends warned me that it’s kind of in the middle of gang territory, so just make sure you don’t appear afraid. Assert your dominance.” An image of t-posing appeared in Noah’s mind and he couldn’t tell if that was Karen’s intention, because she immediately turned away. But he was pretty sure that if he t-posed around here, he’d get immediately shot in the face. His heart rate had to be unhealthily high, and in combination with the heat wave, the fear he felt was making him sweat enough to fill a small pool. But he kept walking. A voice told him getting stabbed while walking to get food would at the very least be an interesting story. Karen stopped suddenly, then glanced down at her phone.

“I think this is the place,” she said, pointing to the building in front of them.

“Thank god, let’s just go in,” Julie said, pushing the group from behind into the restaurant. The group huddled at the front of the restaurant.

“What’s this place called?” Ralph asked. Karen glanced at her phone to check whatever her friends had called it when a woman walked up to the group.

“This is the Chang Dai. Is this your party?” The group nodded in response to her question. The woman led them to a table. “You guys aren’t regulars, how’d you hear about us?” Karen smiled to the woman.

“Oh, some friends recommended this restaurant. We’re students at NYU,” she said.

 “Well, it’s always nice to get new customers.” Seeing the cameras and laptop bags they were all carrying, she frowned in confusion. “What’s all of that stuff?” Karen practically jumped out of her seat.

“Have you heard about the Library Ghost?”

“Excuse me?” The woman continued to stare in confusion.

“We’re filming a documentary on ghost sightings in the New York Public library,” this time it was Julie who piped up. Ralph held up his camera.

“Would it be alright to interview you?”

_Transcript two:_

_The camera is focused on a woman. The restaurant she is in seems to be fairly empty, although there are patrons here and there._

_Noah: So, when’s the last time you’ve been to the New York Public Library?_

_Woman: Oh, I’m sure it’s been years…_

_Noah: I get it, I get it. Have you heard anything about the rumors of a man dying there?_

_Off-screen_

_Julie: Woah Noah, that’s a little forward. I thought we weren’t going to talk about that._

_Woman: What did you say?_

_Noah: We’re investigating a ghost. Or there might not be a ghost, we haven’t seen anything yet. But our sources say that a man did die in the library about seven years ago. Have you heard anything about that?_

_There is a moment of tension. The woman doesn’t say anything, then she takes a breath._

_Woman: Listen, I’m not sure what you kids are getting yourselves into, but I really think you should let this one go._

_Noah: But we don’t know anything about who this guy was yet? We know what he looked like, but no one even knows his name. Shouldn’t he have justice?_

_Woman: There are people who know who he is._

_A tall man walks into the screen._

_Man: Nadia, are these people bothering you?_

_Nadia: No, Sing, thank you, they’re just some college students filming a documentary. About a death. In the New York Public Library._

_There is a moment of silence._

_Sing: Listen, I think you guys should maybe go. There are some personal stories you shouldn’t get involved in._

_Off-screen_

_Julie: I mean, yes, but it’s not like we’re investigating some mob story._

_Nadia and Sing say nothing._

_Off-screen_

_Ralph: Oh my god. My mom’s going to kill me. I can’t… guys, I think I might have to quit… this is out of my league._

_Julie: You know what Ralph, you’re right. Karen, I’m sorry, but this is too crazy. I’ve gotta go._

_The camera gets put on the table_

_Ralph: You guys are free to keep doing whatever you want, but we’re out._

Ralph and Julie headed out of the restaurant without another word. As Noah watched them, he thought about leaving too. But he realized that he couldn’t. Looking up at the faces of the woman and man in front of him, Nadia and Sing, all he could see in their faces was pain, the kind that comes after a loss, the kind that you can never quite heal from. He glanced over at Karen, and could see that she seemed completely undeterred. Then, her face relaxed and she sighed.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “It seems you guys knew more about this subject then we thought.” Noah realized that was his cue to apologize as well.

“Yeah, I’m sorry as well. We didn’t really realize this was real just this morning. I thought it was just some stupid internet rumor.”

“Yeah,” Sing said, “But that doesn’t just mean that you guys should decide to get involved this much in people’s personal business. There are somethings that need to be left to rest.” Karen seemed to glow with anger at this.

“Yes, I understand that, but there are people who don’t have closure. Just this morning, we met someone who’s still suffering because of the death. She’s still crying over some stranger who died in the library, some man who’s name she doesn’t even know-“

“Ash.” Nadia said.

Sing looked over at her in shock. “Nadia, why are you telling them who he was?”

Nadia sighed. “Because I understand where these kids are coming from,” she said, and turned towards Noah and Karen, “And I think that whoever it is who’s still suffering deserves to know. However. You guys can’t just make a documentary about him. He deserves privacy, at least in death.” With that, Nadia turned and walked away, followed by Sing. Noah made eye contact with Karen. She nodded. Noah took apart the camera. They would keep investigating, but they would no longer film their findings. Noah had started the day excited. He wasn’t sure how the day was going to change him, but he knew that the wheels were already turning.

Taking that it was time to leave, Noah and Karen stepped outside the restaurant. Karen looked up at Noah.

 “So. Where to next?”

Noah thought for a second. It seemed to him that they had two options. They could give up on their research, go get lunch, put their discoveries in the back of their mind, an interesting story that means nothing. An unsolved mystery interesting only for the questions it never answered. Or they could continue what they started, and go back to the start of all of it.

“I think we need to go back to the library.”

And so they returned to where the day had started. Just as hot. Just as full of questions. Everything they had learned had just lead to more mysteries. Standing in front of the library, Noah couldn’t help but find it ironic that a building designed to answer questions had only raised more and more. As if listening to Noah’s thoughts, Karen turned to him.

“We’re doing this, aren’t we,” she said, eyes ablaze with quiet intensity.

“Getting involved in the unsolved death of a man who may or may not have had mafia ties?” Noah breathed in for a second, but already knew his answer, “I guess so.” Karen smiled for a second, the intensity never leaving her eyes.

“Well I guess it’s time to go back in,” she said. As they stepped through the threshold and the cold air hit them in the face, Noah got the sense that whatever life this man had lived, it was nothing like that of him and his friends. Nothing like Julie, with her three sisters, constantly fighting but still very much caring about each other. Nothing like Karen, who despite having a somewhat rocky exterior, was easy to love, and was surrounded by friends who very annoyingly reminded her of this. Nothing like Ralph, who, from stories Julie had told him, had a mother who was strict but equally loving, and made sure to remind him about how much she cared each day. Nothing like himself, who had a pair of parents who he used to yell at for being embarrassing. The kind who write you a message on your sandwich bag. Noah could feel that whoever had died in this library, whoever this Ash guy was, he had never had anyone like that. Noah felt himself wishing that there had been at least one person who had been there for this man whose current legacy was as a ghost. And he remembered that there had been a letter, and he suddenly felt as though he knew that there had to have been. And then he and Karen were in the library.

They headed back to the reading room. The first person they saw was Susan, the librarian, and, seeing her, decided to walk over and share with her what they had found. Spotting them, she have a small wave.

“Have you kids found anything,” she paused, “Where are the other two of your little group?” Karen and Noah looked at each other. Noah decided to speak first.

“They left. What we’ve been finding hasn’t exactly been painting a very good picture of what happened.” Susan looked down sadly.

“I was somewhat expecting that,” she said. Karen decided to speak.

“Well, Ma’am, if you want,” she swallowed, then restarted, “We, um, we weren’t able to figure out why he died. We weren’t able to find whoever wrote him that note either. But, if you would like, we could tell you his name.” Susan blinked in shock.

“You were able to find out his name?” Susan gasped.

“Yes, would you like to know?”  Susan nodded, then held up a hand.

“First, I want to take you to the place where…” She trailed off.

“The place of his passing.” Karen said.

“Yes.” Susan wiped at her eyes, then moved in the direction of the tables. Karen and Noah followed behind. Susan stopped in front of a table.

“Obviously they had to replace the table and chair, but the layout is the same. This is where I saw him. ” Noah and Karen solemnly nodded.

“Would you like to hear his name now?” Karen asked. Susan didn’t look at her, mind clearly back seven years ago, but she nodded.

Karen spoke. “His name was Ash.”

“Excuse me?” Noah and Karen turned around to see a man with glasses and long hair, loosely pulled back, staring back at them. After today’s experiences, they hoped he was just trying to get the attention of the librarian. “Did you know Ash?” Well damn. They were screwed. This man was, judging from experience, about to start crying or yelling at them.

“Sorry,” Karen said, “Just college students making a documentary. We didn’t know Ash,”

Susan turned to face the man, and a look of recognition flashed across her face.

“You’re that famous photographer!” she said, “You were on TV. And you knew the young man I found,” she said, her face falling, the tears returning. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I don’t know what kind of pain you went through.” Then she looked up, and something seemed to click in her mind. “You must be the letter writer.” She said.

“What letter are you talking about-?”

“I’m so sorry. You were there for him, I’m sure you were. I… he looked so happy. When I saw him. I’m sure it was whatever you said to him in your letter. I’m sure he would thank you. And I’m sorry I didn’t realize what was happening. I should have woken him up.  I should have-“ Susan was no longer saying words. She was just crying; deep crying, the kind that has been held in for years until it bursts out at once. Noah wasn’t sure what to do, so he looked over at Karen, who was staring at the man, who was crying as well. Noah was grateful that the library was fairly empty.

“I’m sorry too,” the man said, “If I had done more, if I had just tried to reach him, maybe he wouldn’t have… It’s just… I left him alone.” Through Susan’s tears, she was able to speak again.

“He wasn’t.”

“What?”

 Susan took a moment to try and regain her senses. “That’s the one thing I noticed. How at peace he looked. Whatever you said to him, when he passed, he held no regrets.” The man seemed shocked, then gave a gentle smile.

“Thank you.”

“What the fuck,” was the first thing Noah said once he got out of the library. He sat down on the steps, hands to his face. He was shaking. “What the actual fuck did we get ourselves into?”

“Well, at least something happened this summer.” A kick to his side. He looked up to see Karen staring down at him. “I mean, we certainly didn’t finish the documentary.” Noah laughed in response.

“That we certainly did not,” He said. Suddenly, the door behind them opened, and he jumped to his feet. It was the man from before. He seemed different from when Noah first saw him. There was a sense of peace. He glanced over to Noah and Karen.

“So,” he said, “You kids were making a documentary about Ash?” The name came out soft, as though the man could barely bring himself to say it. Karen nodded to his question.

“Yes, although really it was just supposed to be about a ghost story. We learned… more than we had hoped to.” The man nodded.

“I met Ash taking pictures for an interview. I would say getting more involved than initially planned is something that happens around him.” Noah wondered what had happened between this man and this Ash guy, but then came to a realization. It didn’t matter. Whoever this Ash was, he had an extremely secretive life. The answers to the questions they had been asking belonged to those who knew him. To those whose lives had overlapped with his. No matter how much information they learned, they would never be privy to who he was. Noah decided to speak up.

“Would you like our film?” The man seemed confused, so Noah started to explain, “After we finish our documentary, edit it, you know, we could mail you what we have. We didn’t get a lot of interviews, and we’re not exactly what you’d call ‘high class journalists’, but I just thought, you might be interested. And we won’t show the documentary to anyone else if you don’t want.” He glanced over at Karen, who smiled back at him.

“You kids might not want to get further involved,” the man said, then seemed to pause for a second, “I can’t really explain to you why you shouldn’t, but trust me when I say that you’re better off not knowing. But ultimately, do what you want with the documentary. Ash… he deserves to be remembered, and I’ve been trying to keep him to myself for too long.” At that moment, Noah could almost see the regrets written across this man’s face, scratched and etched into his skin. “But I would love it if you gave me a copy of the documentary, we can exchange numbers if you want, um”

“Noah.”

“Karen.”

“Nice to meet you, Noah, Karen. My name is Eiji. Okumura Eiji.”

_Transcript three:_

_The camera is focused on Noah, who’s standing in front of the New York Public library. There’s bright sun around, glinting off of his hair and the stone, making him squint._

_Noah: If you’ve made it this far in the documentary, congratulations. Even our lovely editor, Julie, who oh so graciously agreed, along with our wonderful cameraman Ralph, to return to the making of this film, barely made it through the whole thing._

_Offscreen_

_Julie: It’s really crappy_

_Noah: Thanks Julie. Anyways, if you’ve made it this far, you might be a bit disappointed. We pretty much click baited all of our friends who are watching this. Sorry we told you guys this was going to be a ghost story. We thought it was too. But along the way, we realized this was a completely different story. When we first realized that this story was dramatically changing, we thought it was going to become a puzzle for us to solve, a kind of murder mystery. We would detective our way through this story, and come out the other end with a coherent tale to tell. But as we interviewed people, we realized that in a way, this was still a ghost story. There were people who were still being haunted by this ghost of a man. Some of them by regret, others wanting to keep hold of his memory. We certainly don’t know how this kind of ghost story is supposed to end. Maybe it isn’t supposed to. Maybe in life, the people who leave build up in our minds, weighing us down, until we end too. Or maybe we’re supposed to learn to move on, learn how to free ourselves from the burdens of loss we give ourselves. I’m not sure, and I don’t think anyone we talked to knows either. But I do think that what did became clear is that, regardless of what we’re supposed to do with the loss of those we love, we can never let go of what they gave us in life. We can let go of people, of their memories, but we can never give up on the love we shared with them. And we can’t let it stop us from loving still. So maybe that’s how we’re supposed to live life; the sad memories building up, but always in direct proportion to the love building up._

_There’s a moment. Noah doesn’t seem quite sure what else to say. The wind blows by._

_Noah: We want to thank the people who we interviewed. You all let us into your life. We had no right to intervene, but you still talked to us, and we couldn’t be more thankful. We also would like to thank Eiji. We’re not sure who Ash was, but it was clear you who sure who he was. And it seems clear that Ash was sure who you were too. Ash did not die alone._

_Noah walks off camera. There is a shot of the New York Public library. It pans out, and the previous silence is replaced with the sounds of New York, the sound of taxi cabs, of talking, the sounds of life, concentrated in one city, growing steadily louder and louder._

_Blackout._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've has this story saved as a draft since February, and just today on Twitter saw people talking about a similar idea, which sent me into quick-editing mode so that I could post this story before it's too late haha. This was really more of a fun exercise in balancing a large character cast and blending writing styles for me, so if you enjoyed it at all, I'm glad.


End file.
